Moscow orders 100 new trams

The Russian capital has placed an order with PKTS of Sankt Petersburg for 100 bogie trams based on the 71-911EM design at a total cost of RUR 39.9bn, including 30 years of maintenance. The new trams will be based at the recently-rebuilt Apakov depot, replacing 40 71-623 trams dating from 2012/13 and providing for expansion of the city’s network. PKTS will receive 16% of the contract value in advance, and the new trams will start delivery before the end of 2025, with most arriving by September 2026. The trams will have traction batteries capable of providing operation for up to 4km at 20km/h without overhead, though this capability is not expected to be used in normal traffic. They must also be capable of towing another tram for up to 3km anywhere on the Moskva network. The operator already has 40 71-911EM trams dating from 2021, one of which was modified last year for autonomous driving, though it is not clear how successful this experiment has been. 

 

Russian-gauge (1524mm) trams have operated in Moskva since April 1899 and the today 550 trams are used on 40 lines over 181km.